I just finished reading a book I should have reviewed. My bad... I didn't finish in time. But at the same time - I wouldn't have done the book justice.

However: Birgitte Holm Sørensen and Birgitte R. Olesen (ed): Børn i en digital kultur is a collection of articles reporting from the project Børns opvækst med interaktive medier - i et fremtidsperspektiv.. It's a study of how children use computers in and out of the classroom, and how they interact when they work with computers, through observation and interviews.

The study is very interesting, but the reason why I feel I can't say much to shed light on the book is that my degree isn't in teaching, but in media theory. In these articles, the observations are about the children's responses and interaction with each other. The medium or it's channel, the computer, is just one more prop introduced in the classroom. The observers find that children use computers in different manners, and act differently around them, but I am left asking: why does this happen? Does this change happen as a result of the software, the hardware - or is this what happens when children are taken out of the normal class-room situation and offered a chance to cooperate in smaller groups? The study refers to a set of literature which I don't know, which perhaps would give an answer to the question of: "Is this normal group-behavior, or does the computer add something different which an other prop would not add to the interaction?"

The observations were fun reading though. And yes, it did confirm some of Sherry Turkle's observations that children enjoy the sensation of mastery and control over the computer. But *coughs* who don't? Jill, why do I blog? In my case... for control and discipline.